Devices for silicon microphotonic interconnection: photonic crystals, waveguides and silicon optoelectronics

Silicon microphotonics is the optical equivalent of microelectronics for integrated circuits. Photonics enables interconnection that is not limited by transmission bandwidth. Photonic switching promises ultrafast routing and encoding of information for telecommunications and data transmission. The key implementation issue is the integration of photonic components with integrated circuit electronics. Silicon microphotonics utilizes silicon-based materials that are process compatible with standard integrated circuit fabrication methods.